Thailand organized a seminar to update chemical management policy development 
On December 8, the Department of Industrial Works (DIW), Ministry of Industry of Thailand, organized a seminar to disseminate information about the latest policy development on chemical management at the Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn, Bangkok. The seminar was comprised of 3 sessions as follows;
(1) Existing Chemicals Inventory System
(2) Prioritization System of Chemicals and Hazardous Substances
(3) Draft regulation to amend the notification of List 5.6 hazardous substances
(1) Existing Chemicals Inventory System
In July 2020, the Department of Industrial Works announced “Notification of the Department of Industrial Works: Existing Chemicals Inventory in Thailand No. 1 B.E. 2563 (2020)” dated 22 June 2020 on its website. Currently, DIW is developing a new system that is in line with the prioritization of chemicals (as described later). The new system will be launched in mid-2021.
(2) Prioritization System of Chemicals and Hazardous Substances
Prioritization is one of the main topics of which DIW is currently working on. The first inventory listed 11,474 chemical substances that have been existed between 1995 and 2017. DIW received additional 7,062 notifications between 2017 and 2019. In the end, 12,591 substances are compiled as existing chemicals between 1995 and 2019. DIW is currently working on prioritizing 12,591 existing chemical substances by applying their own criteria. The criteria include GHS classification, amount of manufacture or import, use pattern, persistent or bioaccumulative property and etc. Evaluation of 3,604 substances are complete and 8,987 substances are ongoing with expected additional information collected by future regulation to amend the notification of List 5.6 hazardous substances (as described later).
(3) Draft regulation to amend the notification of List 5.6 hazardous substances
A new regulation will be published in 2021 to amend the current regulatory requirement regarding List 5.6 hazardous substances. The purpose of the amendment is;
- To change notification from product-based to substance-based,
- To request additional information for prioritization such as the amount of manufacture or import and use pattern and
- To introduce an easy and convenient system for industry such as notifying many substances at the same time by uploading excel files or omit inputting known or commonly available information.
Notification of CBI is also taken into consideration for future policy development as industries are unable to notify CBI for existing chemicals inventory at this moment.
